Almost Father's Day
Who: Teddy "Hulkling" Altman NPCs: Mrs. Altman When: Saturday, June 16th, afternoon Where: Altman's home What: Narrative: Teddy talks to his mom about Billy and dating. Rating: PG
Teddy stared at the fridge contents with a frown before looking toward the kitchen table where his mom was sorting realty documents into neat packets. "Where are the artichokes?"
Mrs. Altman looked up briefly. "Sorry, dear, I ate them."
Teddy crouched down to search the bottom shelf of the fridge. "And the pepperoni? And where'd the pecan pie go?"
"You ate the last piece of the pie. Not I."
"But you ate the pepperoni and the bananas."
"Did I?" She sounded amused.
"You did," Teddy said playfully, pulling items from the fridge. "Because I washed a plate with ketchup on it earlier."
Mrs. Altman didn't deny that. She liked dipping her bananas in ketchup. "I have it all on the grocery list to replace. No worries, m'dear. The fish sticks smell done."
Teddy glanced at the oven timer. "Almost." By the time he dished himself out some custard and poured himself some juice, the oven beeped, and soon he was sitting at the table with the plate.
"Have you heard from Billy since yesterday?" Mrs. Altman asked without looking up from her sorting.
Teddy looked at her suspiciously. Waking up yesterday morning cuddled with Billy had been one of the most blissful mornings he could remember, all warm and happy, listening to the other teen breathing steadily. Leaving the bed was unthinkable--Until suddenly that knock on the door with his mother saying, "Boys? I have to run to show a house to a few clients. There's breakfast and fresh coffee brewing. You need to think about waking up in case Billy's parents wonder where he is..."
Seriously busted. Teddy was thankful she was being nice about it. They must have woken her when Billy arrived sometime after 3 a.m. "Yeah. He text to let me know he was okay."
"Good. Though I will say, I do not want this to be a regular thing." She looked up, blue eyes knowing and piercing. Teddy's stomach knotted. "Minors drinking is a serious offense. I realize it's a common thing, but he needs to be careful. He does not need to be drunk and stranded somewhere, nor make too regular a habit of it." She went back to sorting papers, scooping up a pile and thumping it on the table to straighten it. "Also, what if his parents had called me? What would I have said?"
Teddy's pierced ears burned. "It's... it's not a habit. He'd never drank before, is all."
"So he underestimated." She set the packet down and folded her well-manicured hands.
"Yeah. But I'm sure it's not going to be common. Billy's not stupid or anything, believe me."
She gave him a softer smile. "No, he doesn't seem so, sweetie. I know he's a good kid, just want you two to be careful." She reached over and picked away one of his piled fish sticks, dipping it in the pile of custard before taking a bite. Teddy watched to see if her expression soured before trying to dip one himself. Hm. Not great, not awful. Then, "Do his parents know?"
"Know?" Teddy stared at her.
"That he drank."
Oh. "Um, no, though they're not happy he was out so late without word. He's been 'encouraged' to have some family time for the next few days, especially since tomorrow's Father's Day and all."
"Ah. It is. I'd forgotten." One of her hands reached up to brush her blond hair back, her blue eyes scanning a contract.
Teddy chewed thoughtfully, watching her. Father's Day... Of course, they didn't pay much attention to the holiday, but now thinking about it... "Mom, you know you're pretty, right?"
Mrs. Altman looked up in surprise. "I've... been told such, yes."
"So... how come you haven't tried dating again?"
Mrs. Altman laughed lightly. "Oh, Teddy, no! Not this again."
"No, seriously! It's been seventeen years."
Her laughter died and she looked at him, a concern expanding across the surface of her eyes. "Are you... are you unhappy that you don't have a male role model? You always said that-."
Teddy cut her off, palm waving, speaking rapidly. "Nooo, that's not it at all." He looked at her steadily, fingers tapping the tabletop. "You're an awesome mom. You are. Always have been. I've had it better than most kids who have two parents. I've always meant that. You've spent so much time and energy seeing to it. But I have one more year of high school left. Senior year, new friends. I got a lot going on! And I don't want you to think that you can't look after your own happiness, you know?"
She just stared at him.
He sounded lame even to himself, but said it anyway. "You shouldn't have to be alone." Because as Teddy was finding out, being alone had really sucked. For the brief time he'd been dating Billy and hanging out with people who accepted him how he was without wanting to use him, people like Eli, Kate, Bart, and now Tommy, he found being alone again rather unthinkable.
Mrs. Altman looked away, her lips pursing. Then she looked back with an odd smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You're a good kid, Theodore. But really, I'm fine."
Teddy sighed. "Did father mean that much to you?" He saw a flicker of uncertainty pass over her face. Teddy frowned. "Or ... was it something else? Was he...?"
She shook her head quickly. "Oh, no! No, no, he was not abusive or anything. Why would you think that?"
"Well, because I don't know! You never talk about him. There aren't any pictures of him. No other family members that I know. No videos, things he might have had. Nothing! You didn't keep anything! All I know is that he died of cancer before I was born." Wow, that came out quicker and with more frustration then he meant it to. He tried to recover quickly. "Not that I really blame you, because... I mean, I get that it's not a happy subject, and I'm sorry, but that shouldn't keep you from doing something for yourself that might make you happy."
The silence between them was almost a buzz. Then it was suddenly broken by the ring of a phone and Mrs. Altman's scramble to fish it from her purse. She stood up to speak to her client briefly. Then...
"I gotta go, honey." She put the papers into her briefcase quickly. Soon Teddy was getting a kiss on the forehead from her. "Love you."
Teddy glanced up. "Love you, too, Mom."
He listened to her walk swiftly away and close the door. With a sigh he pushed away the rest of his uneaten fish sticks and stared out the window into the backyard, consumed in thought.